


Brave

by ViskaVatten



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 06:12:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1103360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViskaVatten/pseuds/ViskaVatten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barney's collection of skulls didn't start because he was an Expendable.</p><p>(Will be a few short stories that may or may not become a full on plot.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brave

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I know this fandom isn't overly popular, but I love it more than I should. Hopefully, as readers, you will enjoy these short stories~

  
**Chapter One**   
_Lucky Ring_   


Autumns browning grass swayed in the early breeze that swept over the farming field. Cows grazed as horses trotted and a little girl sat on a wooden fence looking out to the dirt road. This seven-year-old girl held a small present tightly in her hands as she watched the cattle. The sun was about an hour from going down behind the horizon and her heart felt like it was falling too.

“Gwen, sweetheart, come inside!” her mother called from the front deck of the farm house. “He must be running behind. You need to eat dinner!”

Gwendolyne turned to look at her mother from across the cow’s yard and shook her head. The long, dark brown hair that ran down her spine whipped back and forth with the movement. There was no way she was going to leave her spot for just food; she had the best view of the dirt road. Every vehicle that drove by she could see perfectly and that meant she could see the person she was waiting for all day. Maybe he was late, but she wasn’t leaving her spot until she saw him. 

As the sound of a horse galloping became louder, the young girl sighed in annoyance as her mother stopped next to the fence. “Gwen, your father was almost a week late last year-”

“He promised,” Gwendolyne argued, hugging the box closer. “He promised not to be late this year…”

Herriot smiled down at her daughter from the back of her horse. “Sweetie, your dad’s job sometimes takes him far away. He could have a delayed flight.”

Gwen knew her mother was only trying to help but she also knew her dad had his own plane. There was no way he’d be delayed with his own plane; she was seven, so of course she knew differently. As she shifted her eyes from the dirt road to the woman watching her, a load rumbling came from the distance. 

Both turned to the noise and as it became loader, a chopper motorcycle was speeding up the road kicking up dust. Gwendolyne smiled as she yelled for her father before running through the grass to the gravel driveway. 

The black box was held tightly in her hand as the man who stepped off the motorcycle and caught her as she jumped at him. “Daddy! You’re late!”

“Not as late as last year, at least,” Barney Ross replied as his daughter smiled at him. “How have you been, angel?”

“Great! I got you a Christmas present!” Barney took the little wrapped square from his daughter’s small hands and kissed the top of her head. 

Herriot smiled at the sight of the two of them before turning her horse toward the barn. “I want the both of you inside before dinner gets cold. I didn’t slave over a turkey all morning for nothing.”

After a cozy Christmas dinner, finished off with Gwen’s favourite desert of cinnamon apple dumplings, the three moved to the living room. With the sun gone down beyond the horizon, the lights on the tree and garland along with the fire covered the room in a warm glow. In front of the fireplace, Gwendolyne sat happily unwrapping her gifts from her parents and Santa.

Barney took the time to thank his lucky stars that he was sitting on the couch beside his ex-wife and his daughter. It had only been a few months since he last saw her but somehow she grew so much he hardly believed it with his own eyes. Once her presents were all opened and thoroughly checked, Gwendolyne hopped onto the couch between her parents.

“Daddy, you still need to open your gift,” she stated, giving him a child’s version of a pointed expression. 

“Alright, alright,” he replied and started opening the wrapping paper. The box popped open with an easy push of his thumb and a silver skull stared up at him. Barney took the silver ring in his hand and smiled at the beaming girl. “A ring?”

“It’s a lucky ring!”

 

A cheer erupted inside the pub that the Expendables were currently occupying for Christmas Eve beers. Barney looked up form the silver skull ring on his finger as Lee sat in the empty chair across from him at their table. 

“When was the last time you saw her? Or even called her?” the man asked, taking a mouthful of his drink.

“A while. I haven’t seen her since she started university four years ago.” 

Lee looked over Barney’s shoulder with a smirk. “I figured that, so as a good friend, I did you a favour.” 

Barney raised an eyebrow in curiosity and was going to question his friend’s odd statement before someone tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked up, Barney was greeted by his smiling baby girl that really couldn’t be considered a baby anymore. 

“Merry Christmas, dad.”


End file.
